The Unforgiven Foe
by DBZHalo87
Summary: Follow Private Shane Phillips as he joins a group of Marines on a mission to recover information from a downed UNSC ship, as well as discover and avoid the sercets which the world around them possesses. (Three Chapters Up, Reviews are Welcome.)
1. The Covenant Strike Again

Chapter One: The Covenant Strike...Again 

The year is 2554, thirty-four years after the first encounter with the race known as the Covenant. Not a day had gone by that the human race has ever wondered if traveling into space was worth this much. Sadly, it was to late to have regrets. They were at war now and nothing could change. It was either win the war or become extinct, only to fade into the Covenant history books as the race that 'failed' to protect their civilization, their way of life. This was something that Private Shane Phillips wouldn't allow. Even though he was a simply Private, he was still going to give his all to try and repel the Covenant onslaught. Phillips was thirteen when the colony he called home was destroyed by a Covenant battle group. That was over six years ago and the images of that day still lurked throughout his sub-conciseness. 

Phillips shuddered slightly as he wiped a cloth rag down the side of his MA5B Assault Rifle. After deciding that his weapon was spotless, Phillips crumbled up the rag within his hand and glanced up at all of the commotion around him. Civilians were hustling left and right, trying to get to their ships and leave the colony before the Covenant could arrive. Phillips on the other hand was forced to stay. He was supposedly part of the retaliation that was going to take place once the Covenant landed on Rak, the colony which he currently resided on. The world around him seemed to remind him a lot like that last colony he had been on. Yes, shame it to went up in a flaming glory as yet another United Nations Naval battle group was destroyed at the hands of the Covenant Armada. 

Things were starting to get out of hand. He began to wonder if he was fighting for a lost cause. No, that couldn't be. He had always been very good at sticking with that you believed in and this was something that he believed in more than anything in his life. Once he turned eighteen, which was about five months ago, Phillips had immediately volunteered to be a Marine with the U.N.S.C. It was kind of like a dream for him, sort of his highest goal in life, ever since his family was slaughtered on his home colony. Again he shuddered as the etched image of their faces emerged in his mind. His mother fell after being struck in the back of the leg and his father rushing to her assistance, only to get bombarded with a flurry of plasma bolts. Phillips jolted his head to the side and closed his eyes tightly, snarling to himself in anger for not being there to help them. 

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned his attention towards the person behind him. It was his old friend, Kohl Wallace, who had also volunteered for the Marines the same day he did. He too lost his entire family on the same day, on the same colony, and almost the exact same place as Shane's family did. Because of this they shared a common bond, both having anger dwelling inside of them, and both being some of the better Marines in the platoon. Shane was curious to what Kohl wanted with him, being that he wasn't supposed to be stationed at this exact location. But, due to the fact that he hadn't seen him for a while, Phillips met Kohl with grin and a hand shake. 

"Where have you been you little punk you," questioned Shane with a light chuckle. It felt good to laugh, something that humans, let alone the Marines, weren't doing much these days. 

"Here and there once or twice. I heard you were in the neighborhood so I decided to stop on by," Kohl said with a nod before clearing his throat then continuing, "I also heard that you just got back from Rak. Sorry to hear about what happened." 

"Don't worry about it. It's done and over, there's nothing we can do about it. At least there was some light at the end of that dark tunnel, we finally discovered a more effective way to fight Covenant ground units off," spoke Shane with a cheesy grin. 

"Is that so? What'd you do? Show them a picture of your ugly mug?" Both of them laughed, but the laughter was cut short as Shane sent a slightly hard punch into Kohl's thigh. 

"Very funny, smart ass. What I was going to say was that we discovered that guerilla tactics are pretty useful against this giant bugs. You see, because those Jackals..." 

Before he could finish several alarms went on all around him. Both of them knew what that meant and Shane leaped to his feet, made a slight nod to Kohl, then raced off towards his designated location. His combat boots pounded on the ground as he ran and his armor rattled with every stride that he took. Phillips didn't bother to latch his gun on the side of his belt, he knew that the moment he reached where he needed to be, that he wouldn't have time to be dawdling with unlatching it. It was only about a minute before he reached the docking bay and already several of the drop ships were taking off and heading into the distance. Shane glanced off into the direction that the drop ships were going and saw nothing but black smoke billowing into the air, blocking out the bright sun from above. 

As his mind began wander he was struck in the back by a Marine running for his drop ship. The force knocked him out of his trance and brought his attention back to the task at hand. Immediately he rushed towards a drop ship, just picking one randomly and hoping in. Once aboard he took a seat, directly in the middle of the group. He didn't recognize any faces around him and decided against greeting anyone, for they were probably not in the mood to talk. Shane had been in this situation before at Rak, yet something about this time seemed to be a lot different. Maybe it was the fact that he had seen the front lines first hand and now knew that he did have something to worry about, that the majority of the men and women around him were probably not going to come back. 

With a quiet sigh he laid his head back against the padded head rest and watched as the drop ship quickly filled up. A minute, if not sooner, after the drop ship was filled the engines ignited and the ship took flight. Through the back Shane watched as the military base drifted farther and farther away. Now he was heading towards the black smoke and area filled with the unknown, whether it be death or victory. There was only those two types of things in this war. Either the battle was one sided or it was equal to the point where whoever had the most ammo would win. On most occasions it had been one sided, in the Covenants favor. However, for that one engagement that Shane had been in, he had seen that the Human forces could hold their own and defeat the Covenant. Sure, they could win on the ground, a well placed tactic nuke could ensure that, but out in space was a different story. The Covenant had faster, better shielded, and better firepower than any of the United Nations Naval battle ships. 

That was the only problem with this war. If the Humans could limit the Covenant to the ground, then there wouldn't be so many casualties. Even if a small group of Humans were able to board a Covenant ship, secure a certain zone, then allow others to dock, they could easily overrun the ship. From that point on they could find the location of the Covenant home world and immediately, for the first time in a while, go on the offensive. These were the kind of wishes that Phillips hoped would happen. But, in all sense, they weren't very likely to happen anytime soon. Again he sighed, just as the side of the drop ship, opposite to his side, was struck with something. The wall behind the Marine in front of turned a jet black color in and instant and black smoke began to pour outwards from the ship, filling the air behind the drop ship up with a fresh patch of smoke. The left engine had been struck by an incoming Mortar charge and the ship was heading down. 

Over the inner-com Shane listened as the pilot gave instructions for everyone to hold on tight and to remain calm. Yeah, easy for him to say, he'd the first to know if we were going to crash, while everyone else had to guess. A few of the Marines around Shane began to panic, one of them almost reached the point where he stood up and prepared to jump, but was quickly seated by a hard shove from another Marine. Shane grasped the arm rests tightly with his hand and closed his eyes, feeling the ship shaking all around him. His Assault Rifle trembled as it laid there on his lap. As he opened his eyes he noticed that he was the only person who didn't have his weapon in hand. Well, not wanting to be the black sheep, Shane grasped his gun and picked it up, then swung it over his shoulder. A good minute had passed since the ship was hit and they were still descending towards the ground. He guessed that they must of been really high up there or the pilot was better than he had thought. 

"Okay! I'm going to take us down, but it's going to be hot. Get off and get down quick. All of you Greenhorns who wanted to see combat up close, this is gonna be your lucky day," stated the pilot as he leveled the ship out and dropped it down on the ground. 

During their little tumble one of the Marines had managed to close the door which had been opened for most of the ride. This had been a foolish mistake that someone was going to pay dearly for. From inside, of the now dark drop ship, the Marines watched as blue shots collided with the outside of the metallic frame of the drop ship. Some of them made it through, but the majority of them just hit the wall, illuminated it with a flourescent blue glow, then vanished once the glow had faded. Again the pilot came over the com-link, yelling at everyone to get out since he didn't know how much fire he could take. Shane, not wanting to stay cooped up in the tin can any longer and get caught with a Mortar charge, stood up and headed towards the button which activated the door. Just as he was preparing to pull it he was stopped by the person who had closed the door. 

"What in the hell do you think your doing, boy? Do you have any idea what is going on out there!? It's war, it's a game that you play with your friends on weekends. If you open that door then you pretty much say that we're all dead," shouted the cowardly Marine. 

"If we stay in here than we're all dead. We have a better chance out there than we do in here. Think about it. A single Mortar charge could tear this ship shreds. Now, would you rather get easily blown to smithereens or would you like to get out there and stand even a little chance to survive?" retaliated Shane in just as loud of a tone as the Marine had given him. 

"Make a move towards that button and I will be forced to restrain you," threatened the Marine, who apparently didn't have anything to come back Shane's previous remark. 

"I'd like to see you try it." 

With that he reached for the button, but his arm was grasped and brought back, next placed tightly behind his back. This caused Phillips to drop his gun and wince in pain, having underestimated the Marines strength. Shane wouldn't allow himself to be caught in a cage and watch everyone around him die because someone was to scared to leave. So, in an attempt to end all of this commotion he kicked his leg back, connecting it with the Marines ankle and causing it to slip out from underneath him. The Marine grunted as he dropped to one knee, only to be met once again with the flat of Shane's boot. This force was enough to cause him to let go of his arm, as well as get a fairly bloodied nose. With that obstacle out of his way Shane motioned for everyone to get into a ready position, then pressed the button on the door. A bright light glared in through the door and onto the twenty Marines which stood in side, one of them being Phillips of course. Outside the sound of explosions, Assault Rifles, Plasma weapons, and the occasional thundering of an enemy Mortar tank letting off a charge. Just as the door opened fully and Shane's eyes adjusted to the light, he was met almost face to face with three Grunts, all of which had their weapons point directly at Shane. 

He didn't have any time to bend over and pick up his weapon and was at the mercy of the three Grunts, that was until a flurry of gunfire erupted from behind him. Each bullet seemed to hit its target and the Grunts fell quickly, two to several wounds, and one to a head shot. This gave Shane time to bend over and pick up his Assault Rifle. Shortly after doing this task he raced out into the sunlight, which had now broken through the thick clouds of smoke. All of the Marines, except for the one that Shane had hit, emptied out of the drop ship and into their own separate directions. Phillips on the other hand, headed towards the center of all of the commotion. He glanced side to side, watching as Grunts, Jackals, even Humans fell to the ground. Suddenly, a shot of plasma whizzed passed his head and he hit the dirt as fast as he could, kicking up some dust in the process. Shane rolled onto his side and brought his Assault Rifle up, cocked it, then unleashed an array of gun fire to his right, basically in the direction from which the shot had came. 

A few squeals came up as he went through half of his clip, then he stood up and rushed forwards, pushing his way through the dust which he himself had formed. Once it settled he saw two Grunts laying before him, their blue blood dripping across the ground. A grin crossed his face as he received his first two kills of this engagement. Again he went into a run as he head towards the trenches where the majority of the Marines had dug in. Knowing better not to jump into the trenches, Shane kicked his own legs out from underneath him and literally slide into the trenches. Though he did end up landing on his backside, since his balance wasn't very good. Quickly he stood up and checked the numbers on his Assault Rifle. Thirty shots left, that's at least fifteen kills if not more in Shane's book. He remained below the cover of the trenches for a few more minutes as he collected his nerves, then shot his upper body up and laid down a spread of lead into the anatomy of several incoming Grunts. A few of them hit the ground from mortal wounds, while others, who had light wounds from his attack preformed a counter strike, sending bursts of green plasma in Shane's direction. 

His eyes grew wide as he saw the incoming bolts and immediately ducked back down into the trenches. Dust and gravel kicked up as the bolts hit the ground around him, one of them even grazed his shoulder plate, causing a strip of it to blacken in color. Having a pretty good idea that the Grunts were still coming towards him, Shane withdrew a M6D Pistol from a spot beneath his right thigh plate, cocked the gun, then poked his upper body out from underneath the trenches cover again. The Grunts were much closer this time, but that just made it easier for Shane to hit them. He pulled back on the trigger one, and just once, sending five rounds right towards the four Grunts which were approaching him. Two of them fell to the onslaught, while the other two continued their charge. The barrels of their plasma "pistols" as the Humans had begun to call them, erupted in a bright, green light. Phillips had never seen these guns do this before and wasn't very thrilled to find out what they did. So, to end their little attack, Shane aimed carefully and sent a single shot square between the Grunt on the left skull. Its body fell limp to the ground and the moment it hit its nerves kicked in and it pulled the trigger on its weapon. A basketball sized bolt of plasma flared out of the gun and collided with the Grunt next to him. 

Blue blood splattered in all directions as the plasma scourged the Grunts skin, then punctured into its internal organs, spilling them across the landscape. Shane fired a few more shots at incoming Jackals, but his bullets were of no affect as the Jackals easily deflected them with their portable shields. He snarled and ducked down into the trenches, then dropped his Pistols empty clip, and slid a new one in there. Phillips placed the Pistol back into its location, then reloaded his Assault Rifle and made his way down the trenches. Gunfire blazed over the trenches as he ran, going as fast as he could without sticking his head out from underneath the trenches. All around him there were wounded Marines, some of them more serious than others. Dead Grunts and Jackals were also placed in all directions around the trenches as they tried to make a charge, but lost greatly. Overhead a blue burst from a Mortar charge darted across the sky and landed just to the side of an abandoned Warthog, causing it to explode instantly. After running for a few minutes Shane came upon his squad leader. He was down within a bunker, talking over a com-link as Shane entered. 

"I don't care if they're not completely fueled! I need bombers here and I need them now! Listen! If we don't stop this charge, then you can kiss the entire western continent good-bye! Do you understand what I'm telling you good? Good. Now get me some bombers here or we're all dead!" 

With that the Captain killed the communication link and removed his helmet. He run his hand from his forehead, across his bald scalp, to the back of his head, then placed his helmet back on. Shane cleared his throat and got the Captains attention. They stared at one another for a moment before Shane began to speak, only to get interrupted by a Marine yelling out, "Incoming!" Instantly he leaped to the ground, as did the Captain who slide underneath his desk. Shortly after a thundering noise echoed throughout the area as a Mortar charge collided just outside of the bunker. Smoke and gravel spewed outwards once the charge connected with the ground. Everything seemed to shake from the impact, but it soon faded and Shane stood up, then dusted himself off. It took a while for the Captain to rise to his feet, still being a bit shaken up from the explosion. Finally, he did manage to get into a kneeling position and push down on the table, using it to help him stand. 

"What is it soldier?" Questioned the Captain. 

"Private Shane Phillips reporting for duty, sir!" Replied Shane as he shot his hand up and saluted the Captain. 

"At ease solider," Shane lowered his arm down and placed it back on the side of his Assault Rifle before the Captain continued, "tell your squad leader that I want his squad to try and turn the Covenants flank. See if you can't get into their trenches and lay down some havoc." 

"Sir, yes sir!" Replied Shane before he saluted, then quickly exited the bunker. 


	2. The Offensive

The Offensive  
  
Shane made his way back down the trenches, passing more soldiers than he had passed on his way to the bunker. He guessed that a few more drop ships had arrived or the front lines had been forced to retreat to this trench. Whatever the case was, Shane's main concern was to locate his platoon and rely the Captains orders. It didn't take him very long as he came upon a group of Marines, all of which bearing the same logo which he had. They were crouched down, hiding behind the height of the trench. There were twenty of them still alive, the others most have either died upon getting off of the drop ship, or god only knows where else. Two of the Marines had unlit cigarettes in their mouths and were trying to light them with a lighter. However, from their recent encounter with enemy forces their hands were so shaky that they couldn't connect the flame with the tip of the cigarette. Shane stopped next to one of them and dropped down onto one knee. He took in long, heavy breaths, having drained himself quite a bit from running around so much. One of the Marines looked over at him for a moment and blinked before returning his look back towards the ground.  
  
"I have an order from the Captain," that was all Shane could get out before he had to take in another breath, then continue, "he wants us to get into the Covenants trenches and create some havoc. Now, where is the Lieutenant Johnson?"  
  
"Everywhere," stated one of the Marines as he looked over at Shane with a frown, "just after we exited the drop ship a Mortar charge struck right next to him. It wasn't exactly one of the greatest things for these rookies to see."  
  
"I see. Well, then who is in charge now," questioned Shane. All that followed was an awkward silence as no one wanted to step forward and take charge. He grew slightly irked at the cowardliness of the squad, "fine, have it your way then. I'll lead the charge and don't think that your just going to sit here. These are direct orders from the Captain and what he says goes. Now..lets move out!"  
  
It felt good to say those words and actually have people obey him. Every single Marine stood up, locked and loaded their Assault Rifle, then awaited for Shane's orders. Seeing that they were all ready Phillips made a motion with his hands and leaped out of the trench. He ran full speed towards the Covenant trench, occasionally he glanced over his shoulder to see if they were still following, which they were. Suddenly, he heard a Covenant soldier call out something in his native language. Shortly after a flurry of fire was directed towards their position. Shane dived down into the dirt and covered his hands over his head. Green bolted of plasma blazed overhead, missing him only be a few inches. He heard the deathly screams of a Marine behind him as his armor was struck, then penetrated by one of the plasma bolts. His legs kicked out from underneath him and he fell to the ground, hung onto to life for a few seconds, then let his body relax and allowed the pain forever subside. Shane balled his free hand into a fist, gathering dirt within it in the process as anger flowed through his veins.  
  
Once the firing had halted Shane leaped to his feet and charged forwards again, this time going faster than he had been before now that anger was fueling him. It wasn't long before he reached the Covenant trench and leaped into it. He landed right between two Grunts, both of them just as shocked to see him as he was to see them. Before they could recover and fire at him, Shane darted the butt of his Assault Rifle to his right and smashed into one of the Grunts skulls. Blue blood splashed against Shane, but he didn't pay any attention to it and turned his attention towards the Grunt. This one wasn't going to be defeated so easily and brought its plasma pistol up, pressed its finger back against the trigger, but was struck on the side by a quick burst from an Assault Rifle. Its body slammed into the side of the trench and then slid down against it, leaving a trail of blood where it had hit and slid. Shane watched as what was left of the Marines entered the trench and brought their guns up to their shoulders. Over the radio Shane ordered for them to follow him, which they did as he raced down the trench.  
  
Every now and then a Grunt would poke its head out from a bunker or would jump into the trench, but every time this happened, Shane or one of the other Marines was sure to spray some lead into it. The trench which they were currently in didn't have very many Covenant soldiers, mostly medical units or communication officers. However, no matter what their rank or field, the Marines made sure that they weren't going to live long enough to continue their job. It had been about thirty minutes since Phillips had lead the Marines into the trench and they had already racked up close to twenty kills if not more. They weren't anything special, mostly Grunts, Jackals, Medics, and the rare communications officer. All of that was about to change, though, when they located a bunker at the end of the trench. Shane was actually hesitant to enter this bunker, for it appeared to be much larger than the others, meaning that there was something important in there. After a few minutes of pondering this, he entered the bunker slowly and in a crouched position. The Marines behind him followed in almost the same fashion, then set up a perimeter within the bunker.  
  
The bunker was big enough to easily fit everyone in it. It was cold, dark, and damp, even for something that had been built within a few hours. Shane was amazed at how fast the Covenant could build a base of operation of this magnitude, yet another reason why they were winning the war. Due to the darkness Shane turned on the flashlight which was mounted at the end of his gun. The room quickly lit up as the rest of the Marines did the same. Phillips swayed his head to the side slightly, signaling for one of the Marines to move down the hallway which seemed to lead to another, much larger, location. The Marine did as ordered and made his way down the hallway. Shane followed right behind him, followed by the rest of the squad. They seemed to walk for several minutes, seeing only an occasional footprint or in some cases a COM translator which was monitoring the human radio waves. That was how they knew the squad was coming. Clever bastards, always one step ahead. As about ten minutes closed in they finally appeared to be nearing the end. Shane motioned for everyone to turn off their lights and went down into a crouching position, moving up to the point.  
  
He poked his head around a corner and glanced around, seeing what appeared to be above ground. Shane made his way out of the hallway and out into the open very cautiously. The Marines held back as he scouted out the area for any Covenant soldiers. There were hundreds of empty containers all around the area, some of them were tipped over, standing up right, or even in piles. It looked like they were used to store weapons. After looking around and seeing nothing but containers and the some abandoned Covenant vehicles, Shane waved the Marines forward. They slowly inched their way out of the hallway and into the light for the first time in a while. Now they were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a valley of some kind. Explosions were going off all around it, yet none of them seemed to land in the valley. It was actually kind of peculiar, especially since the valley was enormous in size. Slowly Phillips made his way around the area and searched for something that would be of use to the humans in this war. He found nothing useful, hundreds of containers, all of them emptied. Even the vehicles had been stripped clean of any information from their onboard computers.  
  
This path was a total loss and everyone in the group knew it. Shane simply shook his head and started to move back towards the hallway. Then, out of nowhere he heard a low-pitched humming noise coming in fast. Every ones attention was turned towards the incoming object and Shane quickly ordered for everyone to take cover. A few Marines ducked back into the hallway, others hid behind the containers. Shane, himself, took a spot behind one of the vehicles. He watched quietly as two Covenant Banshees, ground unit fighters, came blazing over the valley. They circled it once or twice, then landed only a few meters away from Shane's and the Marines position. After landing they remained still, no one hopped out of the pilots seat. It was as if they were waiting for someone, radioing in for them that it was okay to land. It was only a few seconds before two Covenant drop ships came shooting in from out of nowhere. They didn't bother to circle the valley and immediately landed and opened its doors. One of the drop ships unloaded a squad of roughly thirty Grunts and Jackals. While the other only released four soldiers which Shane himself had never seen before.  
  
They stood much taller than the Grunts and Jackals, had crimson blue armor on, and had what appeared to be a plasma rifle for a weapon. He had seen these weapons in action before, even though it was only on a mission briefing broadcast. However, he had never before seen the soldiers. He quietly spoke into his com-link and asked any of the Marines if they had witnessed this creature before.  
  
"What are those things?"  
  
"They call them Elites, probably because they are stronger than five humans and have a built in energy shield. I'm pretty sure that there are two more in those Banshees. The Grunts and Jackals won't be much of a problem, but those damn Elites are going to lay down some heavy fire," replied a Marine on the other end.  
  
"Copy that. All right, Baker and Taylor, I want you to see if you can place some grenades right in the patch of those Grunts and Jackals. Smith and Douglas, lay down some cover fire for them. Everyone else, engage those Elites."  
  
"Roger," replied the Marines in almost exact unison.  
  
"Now!" Exclaimed Shane as he shot up from his hiding position.  
  
One of the Elites immediately noticed that it was an ambush and let out a powerful roar, commanding his Covenant brethren that they were under attack. Smith and Douglas were the first to fire as they sprayed a layer of Assault Rifle rounds into the patch of Grunts and Jackals. Some of the soldiers hit the ground fast, but the Jackals quickly formed up around the group and ignited their shields. The hard ammo from the Marines rifles simply ricocheted off of the shields and hit the ground below. After wasting their clips, Smith and Douglas ducked back down and allowed Baker and Taylor to spring up from their spots. They both lobbed two grenades into the patch of Covenant. Three seconds later the grenades went off and bodies went flying in all directions. Purple and blue blood splattered against the side of the drop ship from the mangled bodies of the light infantry Covenant. Next item on the plan was to engage the Elites which had now taken position behind several containers around the area. One Elite jumped out of its Banshee and joined the others, while the other Banshee still remained occupied.   
  
Shane kept a close eye on that Banshee as he motioned for the rest of the Marines to move forwards and engage the Elites. From their spots behind the containers, within the hallway, and behind a vehicle or two, Shane and the Marines unleashed an onslaught upon the dug in Elites. A majority of their bullets ricocheted off of the containers, while some of them hit their target and called the Elites white energy shield to spring into life. Once most of the Marines had emptied their clips the Elites sprung up from their positions and laid down a fury of their own, only they had much more effect than the Marines attack. Due to the structure of the containers hard ammo would simply bounce off, but, what Shane and the others didn't know was that plasma bolts could easily burn a hole through the containers and come out on the other side. This was a mistake in knowledge that would pay most of the Marines dearly. Five Elites sprayed a large amount of plasma into the group of containers were most of the Marines were hiding. Shane watched in horror as the bolts went right through the empty containers and came out on the other side, hitting the Marines before they could even move.  
  
Some of the Marines were struck in the back since they were turned away from the Elites as they reloaded their rifles. Others were hit as they tried to make a break for it and head into the hallway. None of them would make. Human blood now painted the ground as more than half the squad was decimated with a single attack by the Elites. Now, with about eight Marines able to fight, and two seriously injured, Shane was placed in a deadly situation. The Marines in the hallway could easily escape, but Shane and about four other Marines, two of which were the ones that were injured, would be sitting ducks for another onslaught. Before he could make his decision he saw the plasma cannons the Banshee light up and send large bolts of plasma into the remaining containers. The moment the bolts hit they were shot backwards from the intensity of the cannons fire. Quickly the Banshee hovered around, firing rapidly as it took away any protection from Shane's location by the vehicle to the hallway. It fired a few rounds at the vehicle which Shane, two active Marines, and two injured Marines were hiding, but that didn't pose much of a threat. Now there was no way that he could sound the retreat, being that from his location he wouldn't last very long if he headed for the hallway.  
  
Finally, an idea came into Shane's head and he quickly sprung up from his hiding position. With his left hand he withdrew a grenade from his belt, popped the pin off with his thumb, then tossed it over towards the Banshee. It bounced off of the ground, hit the front of the Banshee, then landed. Three seconds went by quickly and it exploded, ripping off the front of the Banshee, then sending it flying backwards into the front, left side of one of the drop ships. The top of the Banshee connected with the drop ship and soon after it exploded, completely decimating the Banshee, and damaging in the drop ship, which now made a loud hissing noise as one of its engines had been wasted. The drop ship tilted on its side slightly just before it dropped out of the hover mode and slammed onto the ground. Both engines had given way and it was now out for the count.  
  
"Open fire!" Shane hollered out loud to all of his allies and they all poked out from their positions. The Elites that were out in the open didn't stand much of a chance as they were battered with shell after shell. Their shields quickly gave way and the armor piercing rounds of the Assault Rifles shredded through their bodies as if they were paper. Two Elites dropped to the ground, purple blood dripping from their bodies and forming a puddle around them. There was now only three more left, but they were behind the containers like before. Baker, who had survived the recent attacks, withdrew a grenade and tossed it into a patch of containers. In no time at all the grenade went off and sent containers flying everywhere. The two Elites that were hidden in that patch leaped out of the blaze and hit the ground hard. Their shields had been disbursed by the grenade and they were now sitting ducks. Three Marines sent several rounds into their confused bodies while the others reloaded. After the two Elites had fallen and there was one more left, Shane motioned for everyone to close in on its position. They walked slowly as they inched their way towards it. When suddenly it popped up from behind its container and fired a few shots, one of which struck Baker in his right shoulder and caused him to drop. Shane let out a yell as he squeezed the trigger tightly, sending sixty rounds of ammo into the Elites shield, then finally into the Elite.  
  
Its body jerked around as some of the Marines kept firing at it till gravity finally pulled it down. Shane now turned his attention towards the lone drop ship, which was now already in retreat position, heading towards the Covenant base. Seeing that it was of no threat, Shane headed over to Baker, who was now sitting up.  
  
"You gonna live?"  
  
"I've only got four words for you, Thank God For Armor," Replied Baker with a grin.  
  
Shane shook his head and grinned back as he made it over to the two wounded Marines. He went over their wounds carefully, seeing if they were in any shape to be transported out of their with manpower. They were, which was a good thing. But, what was even a better thing was that Shane heard quite a few humming noises. He glanced up at the sky and watched hundreds of drop ships took off, heading in the same direction as the one that retreated did. Were the Covenant retreating? Yes, they were. Shane never thought that he would see the day that he Covenant would actually retreat. He simply shrugged and latched his rifle onto his belt. He made his way over to the wounded Marines, but before he could reach them he heard a faint yell of some kind. It sounded pretty close to their position, so Shane went to investigate, after telling the rest of the squad to head back to the trenches. The Baker and Smith threw the two injured Marines over their shoulders and exited with the other Marines. Now he was all alone in enemy territory. It shouldn't be that difficult. After all, all of the Covenant were retreating or so he thought.  
  
Cautiously Shane made his way through the valley, staying close to one side, since that was where he had heard the noise. As he walked he unlatched his rifle and brought it up to his shoulder. The faint yelling began to come in clearer as he walked along the valley wall. Suddenly, it came in as clear as a bell and Shane stopped. He ran his hand down the hard, gravel wall. Something about it didn't seem right. In a way it felt fake. In an attempt to prove his theory right, Shane brought his rifle back and smacked the butt of it against the spot where he had ran his hand down. Sure enough the butt of his rifle went right through the would be gravel. Shane grinned and stuck his hand in through the hole which he had recently formed. He searched around for something to grab on to. Once he found that one thing he pulled as hard he could towards him, ripping out another large portion of the almost cardboard type wall. The room before him was pitch black, causing Shane to turn his flashlight on in order to see. He crouched down slowly and walked into room. As he shined his light around he could see that the room did have lightning, but he guessed that it had been knocked out by the explosions which had decimated the surrounding area.  
  
The room had several hallways which sprung from it, all of them appearing to be fairly long and time consuming. If he wanted to get out of here in time he would have to pick the right one from the start. He became perfectly still as he stood in the room, trying to pinpoint which hallway the yelling was coming from. Finally, he picked it up and ran down the hallway to his far right. His boots pounded against the ground, kicking up dirt and splashing mud and water against his shin plates. It didn't take Shane long at all before he reached yet another large room. From the entrance he shined his flashlight around, scanning the area. There appeared to be nothing in the room until his light came upon three humans in the corner. One of them appeared to be fairly lively, probably the one that was yelling, while the other two were either knocked out or dead. As he moved his flashlight around more he discovered that there were several Marines laying on the ground, each one dead. Pools of blood had formed around their battered bodies and the room smelled of burnt flesh.  
  
Phillips shuttered as he carefully approached the three humans before him. By the looks of the metals on their jackets, Shane could tell that they were of high rank. Which was probably why the Covenant had captured them. As he inched towards them the lively human let out a loud mumble, as if trying to tell Shane something. Shane blinked curiously and looked around, seeing nothing. All of a sudden, though, he heard a light grunt come from behind him and instinctively leaped to the side and went into a roll. He immediately shined his light up and watched as an Elite leaped from the shadows and swung the butt of his plasma rifle at the location where Shane previously was. That was a close call for sure. Now that his attacker was in view, Shane pulled back on his trigger and fired a few bursts of ammo into the Elite's shield. Each of his shells connected with the shield, then quickly disbursed. The Elite laughed in his alien tongue as he brought his plasma rifle up and fired bolt after bolt at Shane, who by this time had gone into a sprint. He ran full speed as the Elite fired rounds after him, each one missing him by only an inch or two. To caught up trying to execute Shane, the Elite forgot about how his plasma rifle would over heat.  
  
After releasing about twenty rounds blue smoke poured out of the vent on the side of the gun. Shane used this to his advantage and charged the Elite, firing what was left of his ammunition at the Elite. Near the end of his clip the Elites shield gave way and the last few shells slammed into, then through its armor. Purple blood splattered all over the ground as the shells ripped through the Elite. However, it wasn't dead, far from it really and once its plasma rifle had cooled off it brought it up and prepared to fire more rounds at Shane. Seeing this, Shane rolled to the side, avoiding the first few bolts. While he rolled he dropped his Assault Rifle, then withdrew the pistol from its spot behind a plate of armor. He quickly stopped his roll and got into a kneeling position, and fired two rounds. One of the rounds hit the Elite square on its chest, the other went right between the soldiers eyes. It stood still for a moment before its nerves came to grip with its own death, then it quickly fell to the ground. Shane holstered his pistol again and picked up his Assault Rifle and put a fresh clip in, then latched it back onto his belt. Calmly he made his way over to the three humans and untied the rope which was currently bounded around them. The lively one immediately stood up, while the other two fell to the ground, revealing plasma burns on their back.  
  
"Thank you, soldier," said the human being as he extended his hand in welcome, "Captain Daniels of the 23 Fire Infantry."  
  
"Private Shane Phillips. Blue Eagle Squadron! At your service, sir!" Shane didn't shake hands with the Captain, just merely saluted. Seeing that Shane didn't wish to shake hands with an officer, Captain Daniels returned the salute, just seconds before a message came over Shane's com-link.  
  
"I want all units to fall back to your EVAC locations, now! Covenant battle fleet Zullu is heading this way and are charging weapons. I repeat, head to your EVAC locations now!"  
  
There wasn't any hesitation as Shane quickly transferred the message to Captain Daniels and both of them raced out of the hidden cavern, leaped out of the trenches, and caught up with the rest of the Marines as they headed towards the incoming drop ships. They took off almost as fast as they landed as Marines filled them up quickly. Shane managed to get into the first wave of drop ships which now raced towards his designated ship, in doing this he lost contact with Captain Daniels. It didn't take long at all for the drop ship to reach the battle ship which Phillips was to now reside on. Once the ship landed he quickly got out and headed towards the docking ramp. While running he bumped into a soldier with a familiar grin on his face, Kohl Wallace. He had survived the engagement and was now going to be on the same ship as Shane. As much as Shane wanted to talk to Kohl he felt a shove from behind as Marines raced towards the ship. Shane simply nodded to Kohl and they both raced up the ram and into the battle ship. Once inside they took position in seats which were randomly placed all around the area. Shane snapped his safety belt on and laid back in his padded chair. He looked to his side, being fortunate enough to be right next to a window. As soon as the ship had been fully loaded the massive docking bay doors closed and sealed, then the ships trembled. It took a few seconds for the engines to get enough power to boost the battle ship into space.  
  
Shane watched as the ground grew smaller and he could see several dark shadows being cast down upon the colony. Covenant war ships were closing in and right before his eyes Shane watched as several plasma torpedoes plummeted towards the ground. What was once a lush, fertile colony, was now being turned into nothing but dust within a matter of minutes. As much as Shane wanted to turn away he couldn't and kept watching until the battle ship hit a slip stream and went off into the unknown of space. 


	3. Information

Information  
  
Once the battle ship was a reasonable distance from any detection of Covenant ships. The Captain came over the loud speaker and stated that everyone may now leave there seats and go about their normal routines. Slowly Shane unbuckled his safety belt and stood up from the chair. He glanced around the room, seeing hundreds, if not thousands of Marines hustling about. He guessed that the officers wanted to board everyone on one ship, but why he didn't know. With a slight shrug to himself Shane made his way into the ground in an attempt to locate Kohl. It didn't take him long at all as Kohl came up from behind him sent a hard smack to the back of his head. Phillips snarled and looked over his shoulder, seeing Kohl's cheesy grin.  
  
"So, how'd you fair against those Covenant bastards?" Questioned Shane as he turned all the way around so he was facing Kohl.  
  
"Not so good. Lieutenant Anders told us to head forward and charge into the Covenant's trenches, right after he saw your squad do it. Only problem was he charged right into the belly of their offensive, stupid bastard. We never even had a chance to defend ourselves. So, for the last two hours I was pinned down behind a rock, waiting for either the Covenant to advance and kill me or our allies to advance and push them away. But as you can see, it looks like our allies advanced and here I am," Kohl nodded in agreement with himself before continuing, "and how about you? How'd you fair?"  
  
"We were given specific orders from the Captain to charge into their trenches. We succeeded in that, got in a little confrontation with some enemy troops. Then, I managed to rescue Captain Douglas. It wasn't anything big," with those words Kohl's mouth dropped and appeared to want to punch Shane right in the jaw.  
  
"Captain Douglas? Thee, Captain Douglas?"  
  
"Well, that's who he said he was anyways," replied Shane.  
  
Kohl started to talk, but was cut off as a message came over the loud speaker, ordering Shane Phillips to the bridge immediately. Shane bid his farewell to Kohl, then pushed his way through the crowd and into the corridors of the battle ship. It didn't take him very long to reach the bridge, even with all of the high security systems that he had to bypass. Once to reached the door to the bridge a Marine saluted him, pulled the hatch on the door, and allowed him to enter. Shane calmly made his way in, knowing that he was going to be in the presence of high ranking officers. There were beeping noises coming from all directions of the room and crewman hustling about, trying to see what they were beeping for. Right in front of the entrance laid a large radar screen which appeared to cover a distance which Shane couldn't even begin to calculate. To his right was a few stations, the same thing was to his left as well. Shane continued forwards into the room, till he finally came upon three men standing in front of the main window in the ship. They were staring out into nothingness, till one of the crewman tapped one of them on the soldier and whispered into his ear. Slowly they all turned around and looked at Shane, who in return to their glances saluted them.  
  
"Private Shane Phillips reporting for duty, sir!"  
  
"At ease Private," spoke the officer to Shane's right, "Captain Douglas, is this the man that saved your life?"  
  
"Yes it is. Shane Phillips was his name and this is Shane Phillips," replied Captain Douglas, who Shane now recognized to be the officer in the middle.  
  
"Requesting permission to speak, sir," spoke Shane as he allowed his arms to dangle at his sides.  
  
"Permission granted," said Captain Douglas.  
  
"Not to sound impatient, sir, but may I ask what this is all about?"  
  
"Certainly, Private. Come with us and we will show you," the last officer to Shane's left said.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
All four of them exited the bridge immediately after that and made their way down several more corridors. Shane stayed a few steps behind the officers, not wanting to go above his rank and mingle with him. Curiosity began to flood his mind as he wondered what they had called him for. It couldn't be for an important assignment, Shane only a Private, but then again, what if it was? After walking for about ten minutes they finally came upon what appeared to be a communications room of some sort. It looked almost like the bridge, but was much larger and didn't have all of the annoying little beeps. In the center of the room there was a sem-large square table. Seated at the far end of the table was yet another officer, only this one appeared to be much more decorated than the others. Shane watched and waited for the others to sit down before he took the last seat on the other end of the table. There was a moment of awkward silence as the officers whispered amongst themselves, sometimes they would back away from their conversation and glance at Shane for a brief moment, then go back to whispering. This was starting to get on Shane's nerves to say the least. What did they want with him? There had to be a reason. So, in order to get their attention, Shane faked a cough. This little scheme worked and all four officers turned towards Shane.  
  
"Well, it appears that your savior, Mr. Douglas, is getting a little impatient," spoke what appeared to be the higher ranked officer.  
  
"We did drag him through countless corridors without even telling him why we brought him here. Wouldn't that make you a bit impatient?" Captain Douglas replied in an attempt to back up Shane's case.  
  
"I suppose your right," the higher officer stated, then continued, "well, down to business. I am Major Tom Andrews, the officer to the right of me is Captain Robert Schmit, the officer to the left of me is Captain Michael Bennett, and I'm sure you already know Captain John Douglas."  
  
Shane nodded his greeting towards each one as he looked their faces over, making sure that he wouldn't forget them. Major Andrews appeared to be quite young for a Major. He hair had yet to turn gray, yet his face was greatly wrinkled from years of stress. Just by looking at him, Shane could see that he was as solid as steel and wasn't someone who would appear nervous at all. He also was a little on the heavy side, which was why he sat back a little ways from the table, allowing his stomach more room. Captain Robert Schmit was very slender and didn't seem much like someone who would rise up through ranks via battle. Shane guessed that he had received the title by either coming up with strategies or something of that sort. He also appeared to be very old, maybe in his late fifties, early sixties. That was an age that no very many soldiers in this war would reach. Captain Michael Bennett appeared to be the youth of this gathering. He was not very much older than Shane and had a little goatee on his chin. His hair was kind of messed up, as if he had just woken up or had never heard of a comb before. From what Shane could tell he always had a serious look on his face, never once grinning, or even trying to smile. Finally, it came down to Captain John Douglas. He was about average height, average weight, and about in his forties if not lower. He had a lit cigar in his mouth and was occasionally blowing smoke into the air. This man appeared to be the one that would try to lighten the others up, laughter wise. He seemed like someone who was almost there to deliver good news. Major Andrews cleared his throat suddenly and got Shane's attention almost immediately.  
  
"Now, the reason that we have brought you here is that, according to Captain Douglas, your quite the soldier. He even went to the point of calling you a SPARTAN," they all laughed, all except Captain Douglas that is, "we all know that he was over exaggerating on a high level, but that is beside the point. Any Marine that would even make an officer compare them to our greatest soldiers ever created is defiantly someone who we should look into. We've also heard about your raid into the Covenant trenches this morning from the field commander. Also, you've seemed to rack up a decent record for a Marine, as well as a Private for that matter. For all of these reasons we have chosen you to lead a search and recovery mission."  
  
"Search and recovery, sir?" Shane was shocked by this. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to lead a mission, "with all do respect, sir, I don't think that I am qualified enough."  
  
"You wouldn't be questioning my judgement, Private, now would you?"  
  
"No, sir! Not at all," Shane gulped quietly as he placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair and held on tightly. He began to sweat as he began to grow extremely nervous.  
  
"Good, I didn't think so," Major Andrews stood up after saying those words, as did everyone else at the table, "I'll have one of the crewman lead you to your quarters and you will be briefed on your mission in exactly four hours. I'd suggest that you get some sleep. That will be all, Private, your dismissed."  
  
Shane saluted the Major, then immediately left the room. He was met at the doorway by a crewman dressed in what looked like an orange jump suit of some kind. They simply met eyes and that was it before the crewman made his way down the corridor. Shane followed quietly, loosening his body armor as he walked to make it easier to take off once he got into his room. His room was only a few meters down the hallway from the communications room and the crewman opened the door for Shane. He slowly walked in and glanced around, before moving out of the way and watched as the crewman headed back to his post. Shane closed the door behind him and pulled his combat helmet off. Once he took it off he shook his head quickly, causing his brown hair to mess up slightly. He reached inside of his helmet and flipped a switch, causing the green screen over his left eye to turn off. Calmly he placed his helmet down on the table next to the door, then gradually pulled the rest of his armor off and placed in any random location. It felt good to be free of those heavy hunks of metal, yet he really didn't have much to complain about. Those hunks of metal had saved his hide plenty of times.  
  
With a groan he extended his arms into the air and stretched out. Every bone in his body seemed to crack as he did this. Shane had been through a lot over the past few months. He had engaged in over twenty skirmished and had been involved in about three deciding battles. Sadly, each of the deciding battles were lost or sent into a draw long enough for the those Covenant bastards to get their fleet into attacking distance. Shane shook his head as he headed over to his bed, which for the first time wasn't a cot of some kind. He let out a sigh of relief as his body collapsed onto the soft mattress below. Immediately he situated himself on top of the bed and rested his head down on the pillow. His eyes weighed down almost instantly after he let out another sigh of relief. At the moment he couldn't even think about the mission that lied ahead or of the dangers that it might possess. In fact, he could barely remember that words that the Major had said at the moment. Oh well, he would have four hours to remember them, if he ever woke up. His mouth opened wide suddenly and he let out a powerful yawn, then moments later he drifted off into sleep.  
  
Four hours went by quickly and he was awoken by the sound of a fist pounding on his door. He shot up into a sitting position and reached for the area where his pistol would normally be. He didn't find it and for a moment panicked before realizing that he was safe aboard a human vessel. Shane stood slowly, walked to the door, and opened it. He was met with a serious look from the crewman which had lead him to his room.  
  
"You are wanted in the communications room in approximately ten minutes. These are direct orders from Major Andrews himself. I wouldn't be late if I were you."  
  
With that the crewman left Shane's presence and allowed him to close the door. Four hours of sleep hadn't been enough in Shane's mind, but he really couldn't complain much. For the past month he was lucky to get an hour in without having to suit up for battle or be moved to a securer location. Now in a slightly groggy mood Shane stumbled around the room, first heading towards the sink and turning the nob on the faucet. Cold water streamed out of the nozzle and into the sink below. Shane cupped his hands underneath the following water, gathering some within his grasp, then splashed it against his face. The sudden rush kicked in all of his bodies nerves and his eyes opened wide. Now that he was awake he turned the water off and headed over to the table where the majority of his equipment was located. He worked his way up as he suited himself, starting at the feet and all the way up to his helmet. Before he placed his helmet on he flipped the little switch within it. The green screen turned on and numbers flashed before, followed by letters, then it went back to numbers. Last but not least Shane holstered his Pistol in its standard location, then latched his Assault Rifle onto his belt. Now that he was fully dressed Shane exited his room and made his way towards the communications room. He was in a light sprint almost all of the way there, trying to make up for lost time. Once he got there he was met with four serious faces.  
  
"Glad to see you again, Phillips, I hope you enjoyed your rest," stated Captain Schmit.  
  
"Now we get down to the most important thing at the moment, the mission," added Captain Bennett, "please, have a seat." Shane didn't hesitate as he took a seat in the exact same chair which he had used before. Everyone else also took a seat, everyone except Major Andrews that was, who stood up in front of the large radar screen.  
  
"Here's the basic information that you need to know, Phillips. Four days ago one of our Capital-class warships, The Holy Chaos, was attacked and downed by a Covenant battle group no more than thirty minutes from out current location. Now, normally we would simply command that the ship either be abandoned or self destruct. However, we have recently discovered that the ship was holding information about the whereabouts of the Covenants main military facilities," the Major stopped to take in a breath and allowed Shane to gather in all of the information, "we are still not certain if it also holds the location of the Covenant home world or not. Not only does it hold information about that, but the A.I. and computer files on the ship also have information about our military strong holds and also the location of Earth. We need that A.I. and all files that contain information about the Covenant or ourselves. Failure is not an option." Shane nodded and rubbed his chin softly, before speaking up.  
  
"Sir, if the ship crash landed four days ago, what makes you think that the Covenant don't already have the A.I. and the all of the files?"  
  
"During those four days we have been able to keep contact with them via long distance communications. There are still some Marines left alive on that ship and they are holding off the Covenant at all costs. We need you to break through the Covenant lines, form a perimeter around the ship, collect the needed data, and get the hell out of there as fast as you can."  
  
"Do the Covenant ground units have fleet support?" Questioned Shane.  
  
"Indeed they do. At least twenty Capital ships, if not more."  
  
"And what is going to stop them from bombarding the planet once we arrive?"  
  
"We are going to stop them. Now, I know that our fleet hasn't been very dependable in previous battles, but for the past eight years we have been working on a new type of ship. One that closely resembles that of a Covenant, in firepower, maneuverability, and shields. We currently have over forty of those ships docked just outside of the system," A few images appeared on the radar screen and Major Andrews pointed them out, "on my command they will engage the Covenant ships, draw their fire, and allow this ship to sneak in, send drop ships down with a rough guess of a hundred Marines, then get the hell out of there. We are certain that our group will be able to destroy the Covenant armada currently stationed around the planet, but you will have only a few days to get out of there, for a heart beat away is yet another Covenant fleet. Our ships would not stand a chance against them."  
  
There was a moment of hesitation as Shane pondered taking this mission. All eyes were on him now as he looked down at the table top, then up at the Major, "When do we leave?"  
  
"Our fleet will be entering their system in about five minutes. You'll have ten minutes to get yourself situated with your squad, your weapons, and your map. We will be dumping you a good distance away from the ship, just so you don't run into any unwelcome guests upon arrival."  
  
"Understood, sir."  
  
Shane stood up and saluted the Major, who didn't salute back, just rather extended his hand towards him. Shane also extended his hand and grasped the Majors, shaking it. Once done with the good-byes Shane exited the communications room and headed towards the docking bay. For some reason he didn't feel worried or scared, in fact, he had an unexplainable excitement coursing through his veins. If he could retrieve the information, then the human race could gain the upper hand on the Covenant and turn the tide of war. Phillips grinned as he entered the docking bay and peered over the Marines which stood before him. Just as the Major had said, there was close to a hundred of them. Shane glanced around slowly, till he heard someone call his name and turned towards that location.  
  
"Phillips, follow me please," spoke a crewman as he motioned towards Shane.   
  
He didn't hesitate one bit as he made his way down a few steps and followed the crewman, who walked over to a table in the corner of the room. Upon the table laid what appeared to be a new set of armor. Shane blinked as he crewman asked him to take off his previous armor. He did just that and placed each piece onto the table next to the one he was currently at. The crewman ran a few simple tests on the pieces of armor. Such as checking them to make sure there wasn't any cracks and what not, basic technical procedure. Once he went through the brief examination he handed the armor to Shane and told him to put it on. Shane did just that and completely suited up in about a minute or two. The armor was much lighter than what he had worn before and it was a slightly different tint of color from the others. Everything else seemed to be about the same, except for a small box which was attached to the back of his helmet.  
  
"I'm sure that you've already noticed the box on the back of your helmet. Well, if you do discover the ships A.I., then your going to have to use that to transport it in. The box is insulated with several crystal plates and it is connected directly to your vision and com-link connections. Also, via com-link, the A.I. will be able to translate the Covenant language. In doing this you can transmit it to everyone in your unit. Any questions?" Shane shook his head 'no', "Good. Now, we have picked four officers for you, all of which will be suited in the same armor that you are in now, A.I. box and all. This is just in case that your box has a malfunction, or you...well, you know."  
  
Shane nodded and glanced around the room, searching around the room for armor that resembled his. He saw three of them right away, but the fourth was a little difficult to pick out. Then, he saw one of his officers in the far corner of the docking bay. A grin crossed his face and he chuckled to himself as he saw the familiar cheesy grin of Kohl Wallace who waved his Assault Rifle into the air. He too was going to be an officer on this mission, Shane was thankful for that. Kohl was an almost perfect shot and was a speedy little punk on top of that. Calmly Shane made his way into the crowd of Marines. Everyone that he passed stopped what they were doing and saluted him till he finally met with all of the officers near a drop ship. There was a brief introduction as the five of them exchanged hand shakes and names. One of the officers name was Alex Edwards, he was a few inches shorter than Shane, and appeared to be younger as well. Shane didn't know about his skills, but they must have been good for him to get assigned to this mission. The other two were named Eric Vicini and Seth Kramer. Both of them were about the same height and age. That was really the only distinct thing that he could tell apart from them, aside from hair color. Before they could say anything more than formal introductions, the Majors voice came on over the inner-com.  
  
"All combat personnel assigned to mission Charlie Bomber report to your drop ships and prepare for immediate launch to the planets surface. We will be entering the system in thirty seconds."  
  
Everyone scrambled to their drop ships and each one was filled up in a quick and orderly manner. Shane took seat in one of the five drop ships, while the other officers went in the others; one in each drop ship. Shane unlatched his Assault Rifle from his belt and placed it over his shoulder as he laid back in his seat. The door to the drop ship closed tightly as the ship shook slightly. Soon its engines ignited and it blasted off a prefer distance through space before it came in contact with the planets atmosphere. The tip of the drop ship glowed a bright, red color as it pushed its way through. Shane could hear the explosions going on all around him as the Advanced U.N.S.C fleet attacked the Covenant fleet from their blind spot and started battering them with everything they had. It didn't take long at all for the ship to land and the doors to open. Marines flooded out of the drop ships and set foot the new ground, then watched as the drop ships, their only way back to the ship, vanished into the sky. 


End file.
